Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

No one could have predicted…

No Kings: Americans standing in the way of bad history saying “Oh, Fuck No!”

Decision time: keep arguing about the last election, or try to win the next one?

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Dear legacy media: you are not here to influence outcomes and policies you find desirable.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

I really should read my own blog.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

Everybody saw this coming.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / New Orleans

Reader Interactions

82Comments

  1. 1.

    TBone

    Suspect named as Shamsud Din Jabbar

    The suspect accused of driving a truck through a crowd on Bourbon street in New Orleans, killing 10 people and injuring at least 36, has been identified as 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar, according to two federal officials who spoke to the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.
    The FBI confirmed earlier today the incident is being treated as an “act of terrorism” and the perpetrator was killed after the attack.

  2. 2.

    trollhattan

    Seems the Allstate Sugar Bowl may proceed as Gawd prefers, so we’re probably all good.

    Can’t these assholes use a Prius, for once? Optics, people!

  3. 3.

    Baud

    He used the gun and wounded two cops, according to the link.

    The perpetrator, who sources say is 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar, crashed two vehicles and shot at police officers, injuring two of them before he was shot and killed by police

  5. 5.

    RepubAnon

    Once the FBI determined the driver had an Islamic-sounding name, it became terrorism.  How predictable.

  6. 6.

    rikyrah

    🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

    My cousin’s wife is NOPD.

    Of course, they were on duty because of the holiday and sports events.

    This is crazy😠😠😠

  8. 8.

    KatKapCC

    How very interesting that it seems like the FBI wasn’t going to use the T word until they found out the guy had a foreign name. Ahem.

  10. 10.

    TBone

    Fuck MSNBC gah!  They showed a short clip of our ACTUAL President speaking to the press while on his way to Camp David and then put up a screenshot of Bargain Basement Bozo’s stupid “see, I told you so CRIME!” knockoff social media shadowboxing BULLSHIT.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    The FBI said in a statement midday Wednesday that Jabbar is a U.S. citizen from Texas.

     

    The FBI confirmed that Jabbar was carrying an ISIS flag in the truck, and authorities have said he was dressed in military gear. The FBI said they also found weapons and a potential IED were located in his vehicle.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    🚨 Reports indicate that the attacker responsible for driving into a crowd in New Orleans’ French Quarter, resulting in 10 deaths and 30 injuries, is 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an American citizen and U.S. Army veteran born and raised in Texas.
    — MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) Jan 1, 2025 at 12:49 PM

  17. 17.

    scav

    @trollhattan: And they say immigrants don’t assimilate to ‘murkan behaviors.

    ETA, not even an immigrant!  No wonder he used a gun and a full-assed truck!

  20. 20.

    TBone

    Does Donold have to be read in on matters of national security or do they draw pictures for him?

  26. 26.

    TBone

    The FBI has also released details about its investigation, saying a potential improvised explosive device (IED) and weapons were found in the suspect’s vehicle
    It adds that “other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter” – the historic area of New Orleans where Bourbon Street is located.
    Their bomb technicians are working to see if they are “viable” and to make them safe.
    The FBI also says the Ford pickup truck “appears to have been rented” and agents are working to confirm how the subject came into possession of the vehicle”.
    It adds that they are also “working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations” after finding the IS flag in the truck.

  27. 27.

    Quinerly

    @TBone:

    The clip I listened to also had someone on MSNBC say violent crime is down after Trump’s statement saying crime was up. Granted, I am listening on Tune In MSNBC, not watching.

  30. 30.

    Mai Naem mobile ¹

    Not to sound like an Alex Jones  conspiracy nut but is it normal for some terrahrist who’s smart enough to have served in the US army for several years to have an ISIS flag in his truck tipping off that he’s a terrahrist?  Just sounds stupid.  What if he had been stopped by the cops for a minor traffic stop and they searched the truck and noticed the flag?

  31. 31.

    trollhattan

    Oops. Right idea, wrong project schedule.

    The pavement bollards on Bourbon Street, from Canal Street to St. Ann Street, which are partly-designed to keep pedestrians safe, were in the process of being upgraded when the attack occurred this morning.
    The work involves replacing old bollards with new removable stainless-steel bollards and sidewalk repairs at various locations, according to the Nola government website.
    The removable bollards were designed to help close the street to cars during pedestrian-only times, it says on the project website page. They can be stored away when the street is open to all traffic.
    The work has been going on in the French Quarter since November, and is expected to continue until February, the New Orleans government website states.
    It’s unclear if they were in place where the driver entered Bourbon Street.
    In a press conference earlier, police superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said the suspect had gone around the barricades.

    Some Dude drove his semi into the CA state capitol many years ago. They installed fencing and bollards around the grounds in response, some of the bollards can retract when equipment and deliveries are planned. Multiple city blocks are a lot harder to protect but I expect planners and security folks know how to make these incidents much less likely using engineered protections.

  32. 32.

    trollhattan

    @Quinerly:

    Do any of the Usual Experts acknowledge the crime rates during the reign of St. Ronaldus Reaganus, the Magnificent? Far higher than today, and it’s not even close.

  33. 33.

    Mai Naem mobile ¹

    @trollhattan: that explains the bollards I see that I’d never seen before. I always think of them damaging vehicles which end up hitting them inadvertently. I sometimes wonder about what assholes human beings can be and how many resources we waste on protecting each other from other people instead of  fixing universal problems in the world like climate related issues.

  34. 34.

    TBone

    In speaking with non MAGA normie “conservative” IRL peeps, “crime” has been used to replace “groceries.” In the snap of a finger.

  36. 36.

    wonkie

    Well, the new year started off with a bang. The pussygrabber jumped right in to exploit the tragedy and pump his base full of hate and fear. Here we go! The glimmer of good news is that MSNBC did report the facts though, of course, the facts will disappear down the memory hole and what will remain is Fear of the Foreigner. Humans are so fucking predictable.

    I should keep my cynicism to myself. Sorry, folks.

  38. 38.

    KatKapCC

    @TBone: What I heard was that an FBI agent interrupted the mayor to say it wasn’t terrorism or that they were not looking at it as such yet, during a live press conference. Not until they heard about the flag and the name were they willing to call it that. Seems clear that the thinking was, this might just be a white guy being a dick again, and white guys are allowed to be dicks and cause terror without getting called terrorists about 98% of the time.

  39. 39.

    TBone

    @Mai Naem mobile ¹: I took out the passenger side of hubby’s truck on a Walmart parking lot bollard while making a turn.  Curses! I thought.  Until a bollard saved our lives in that very same parking lot when a deranged, disabled person stomped the gas so hard in his SUV/van that he went up and over several vehicles, crushing parts of them and coming to a stop only because of said bollards at the store entrance.  He narrowly missed many of us that morning.

  42. 42.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    If this guy turned out to a white IT dude from TX who worked for Deloit, the right would probably blame it on mental illness or whatever other usual trope they roll out to justify white people going on killing rampages.

    But, since he’s not melanin-challenged and has a funny last name, all is good. //

  44. 44.

    TBone

    I just got done watching Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail again a little while ago, streamed it for the BOHICA.

    “I AM the motherfucking shore patrol!” has never felt so apropos.

  45. 45.

    NotMax

    Not New Orleans’ greatest week. Building on Magazine Street collapsed just the other day.

  50. 50.

    banditqueen

    President Biden is waiting for more information on the New Orleans terrorist attack:

    “I will continue to receive updates throughout the day, and I will have more to say as we have further information to share. In the meantime, my heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday. There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities.”

    This sane approach is available for only 20 more days.

  54. 54.

    Suzanne

    @trollhattan: I’ve been a part of a few “hardening” projects. Lots of strategically located bollards, lighting, site furniture, planters, retaining walls, etc. There are, of course, specialty design consultants who you can hire to advise. It’s a big concern for facilities of all types.

  55. 55.

    Scout211

    Headlines on Memeorandum a few hours ago from Fox News and other right wing media highlighted a “report” that the truck driven into the crowd on Bourbon Street “crossed the border two days ago.” (Not linking here).  Now that the suspect has been identified as a US citizen and a military veteran from Texas, it seems like they may have moved on from that particular “border crisis” meme.  Maybe. Ugh.

  57. 57.

    Starfish (she/her)

    @Baud: Musk and Trump having a spat, or is it just normal Tesla incompetence stuff

    The cybertruck aspect of this makes it funnier.

  59. 59.

    Juju

    @Quinerly: I know the pillow comment was a quote of a person who was close to being a victim as well.  I feel so sorry for the people who had and have to witness this terrorist scene. Those kind of images never completely go away, unless one eventually gets dementia.

  63. 63.

    Juju

    @raven: I’m sorry I didn’t make myself clear. In my mind, first responders were implied in the group of people who have to witness such scenes..

  65. 65.

    NotMax

    Elsewhere,

    Federal agents found one of the largest stockpiles of homemade explosives they have ever seized when they arrested a Virginia man on a firearms charge last month, according to a court filing by federal prosecutors.

    Investigators seized more than 150 pipe bombs and other homemade devices when they searched the home of Brad Spafford northwest of Norfolk in December, the prosecutors said in a motion filed Monday. The prosecutors wrote that this is believed to be “the largest seizure by number of finished explosive devices in FBI history.” Source

  66. 66.

    Betty Cracker

    Speaking of Wankpanzers, I saw a Cybertruck a few days ago that had giant versions of the classic truck mudflap “nekkid lady” silhouettes on the hood. I didn’t think Cybertrucks could be made to look more ridiculous. Boy was I wrong!

  67. 67.

    Scout211

    @NotMax: And ABC is reporting:

    A Virginia man allegedly had a cache of weapons, a “go box” and used a photo of President Joe Biden for target practice, according to court documents filed by federal prosecutors this week.

  69. 69.

    banditqueen

    @Juju: How can the intelligence services in the US even hope to analyze trends and risks over the next 4 years? All the repubs lied about this horrifying situation from the moment it happened, no sympathy expressed either, just wild conspiracy theories that lead only to further disaster, pain, fear, and horror. Biden acknowledges the horror without fanning flames further. I too will miss him, so much.

  71. 71.

    SpaceUnit

    I’m watching the “official” press conference from NO.  It’s a goddamn disgrace.

    Everybody with a hint of political ambition is trying to advance their prospects on the back of this crime.  Joseph Kennedy thinks this is what can propel him into the White House.

  73. 73.

    Another Scott

    @raven: Maybe they read or saw Black Sunday??

    :-(

    As usual, the press’s (and the public’s) demand for hot takes is going to make a mess of things.

    Grr…

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  80. 80.

    EarthWindFire

    @Another Scott: Boy, look at all the bills aimed at bringing down the price of groceries. There’s not enough space in my head for this amount of eyerolling.

  81. 81.

    rikyrah

    He was a convert to Islam.

    So, what was his name when he got his Social Security Number at birth?

     

    10 year veteran? With an ISIS flag?

     

    And, he has a bitter divorce?

    Need to talk to the ex-wife.

  82. 82.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @rikyrah: There has been a generation of GWOT veterans suffering from PSTD &/or deeply disaffected from the “system” & powers that be. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a traumatizing experience, too.

    In the PRC, too, we have seen a series of “revenge on society” attacks by lone wolfs, driving vehicles into elderly exercise groups, elementary school kids at the end of the school day, Japanese kids & parents going to international schools.

    Sure hope this does not presage a return of violent Islamic fundamentalism, after a decade of hiatus. The world does not need another factor causing instability, or more excuses for inter-communal & inter-confessional friction.

    The perpetrator of the attack in Germany (last week?) was also an immigrant of ME origin, which touched off a predictable round of Islamophobia from the usual suspects. However, it turned out that the guy has been an AfD supporter, the party of Islamophobes.

Comments are closed.